Smooth Sailing: How CNB Yachts Made the Production of Customized Yachts More Efficient

As we find ourselves increasingly in the Experience Economy where customers demand a memorable shopping experience in addition to a high-quality product, organizations need to get creative in their sales process. One way is to allow customers to customize the products. Organizations that allow for the personalization of products – whether it’s L.L. Bean’s initialed backpacks that everyone “had to have” in middle school, or the do-it-yourself stuffed animals from Build-a-Bear – giving customers the power to make a product unique to their individual tastes is a powerful way to gain market share. However, one-off products can make the product development process a bit more complicated than it already is.

Take, for example, CNB – the most prestigious name in custom high-end yachts. While offering customizable yachts is a major market differentiator for CNB, employees were finding that juggling the process planning and production of multiple orders at any given time was a major headache. In order to continue providing their customers with a unique experience, CNB opted to transform the way that it engineers and manufactures its products. As part of this transformation, CNB planned to:

Combine engineering, manufacturing, quality, and service data into a unified digital thread

This initiative has already proven to be lucrative for CNB and its customers. Windchill has enabled CNB to easily unify design, manufacturing, planning, and resources into a single source. They have also leveraged virtual product representations to streamline the development of process plans and optimize manufacturing planning across products and work sites. Having a complete digital process has given CNB the speed and flexibility to deliver custom luxury yachts at a lower price point than their competitors – helping CNB continue gaining market share in the luxury yacht business.